Alberta: Gay Man Confirmed as Legal Father Though Former Partner Is Biological Parent

Alberta: Gay Man Confirmed as Legal Father Though Former Partner Is Biological Parent

As our definitions of marriage evolve, so do our definitions of parenthood. Many places around the world have precedent for step-parents and adoptive parents gaining full custody and parental rights, but what about gay parents?

A gay dude in Alberta was just confirmed as the legal father of a 10-year old girl – one that he was raising with his ex-partner, the girl’s biological father.

The man, who the National Post only refers to as “Mr. H”, raised the girl with his now-ex-partner for the first three years of her life. His legal fatherhood slipped through the cracked based on problems with fathers and “Intent-Based Parenting” laws, which tend to discriminate against non-biological, non-married fathers.

The Alberta Court of Appeals just recently (but who knows how recently, because you can’t Google the unnamed dad) upheld the decision to declare Mr. H as the legal father. His ex-partner, coincidentally, was the one that inseminated the mother.

Here’s where it gets odd: Per the National Post, “The girl lives with Mr. R, her guardian, and this new decision has no effect on her custody arrangements, though it gives Mr. H standing to challenge them.”

I can’t see this ending well for them, though what its done in court is establish that Intent-Based Parenting laws need to be dragged into the modern reality that it isn’t always one man and one woman marrying and creating a child and living happily ever after.

This case has interesting implications, which no doubt society will be struggling with for years to come.